This is a local-brewed (for us) Baltic porter, a dark beer that is hard to find compared to stout but related to it.. It pours with nearly no head, lacing is wet and loopy. The upfront flavor is a slightly weak toffee, sweet-sour as you swallow it and then lightly bitter finish--with long but not overpowering hops in the mouth and throat. It's not particularly distinguished, and it's no more drinkable than the cheaper Yuengling Porter. It's good, but it won't knock your dark beer-stout-loving socks off compared to say, Smuttynose. Frankly, I prefer Yuengling for drinkability ONLY because if you are going to have more complexity, it should be interesting. I find this a boring porter. I'd love to find some of the Exit 18 Porter to compare (from across the Bay) but getting anything "exotic" in our tiny state is difficult. I'm hoping to find it and compare, one of these days.

I grabbed a chilled six pack of this Baltic Porter and found that it is a lagered porter which was interesting. It has a 6.8% ABV.

Look-It pours a dark brownish black with little to no head and some drooping wet lacing if any.

Smell-It smells of toffee and sweet bread.

Taste-It tastes of toffee, mocha, cocoa beans, hints of licorice, briny malts, and a similar flavor overtone of an oyster stout. It almost has like a sweet malty start and then a mild bitter finish, but is well-balanced.

Mouthfeel-It feels smooth and moist with a light tingle from the carbonation. It is a bit thin, but finishes like a cola.

Overall-I’d say that this is a great beer. It is a new style to me and I enjoyed it. Cheers!

Appearance: Poured solid brown with off white/tan head
Smell: licorice, malts (light), slight hops, carob
Taste: hint of malt, and an odd (but not unpleasant) salty, metallic taste akin to an oyster stout. Well balanced flavors of malt, hop though at an intensity level more similar to a brown ale or lager. Ends sweet – salty with a clean finish
Mouthfeel: heavier than a lager, but thinner than your typical porter, hint of carbonation
Overall: a pleasant mix of attributes from a good lager, the maltiness of a porter and the saltiness of an oyster stout. Good with chicken, bbq or any grilled meats – palate cleansing and not so powerful as to overwhelm your meal.

A: Pours a dark brown color - it's pretty light for the style. The head is about a finger high with a khaki shade. It retains decently and leaves a nice ring of lacing on the glass.

S: This doesn't bring a significant amount of the notes I look for in the style, like chocolate or dark fruit. Rather, the fruit notes here are pretty light (light as in, closer to peaches than, say, raisins), the malts seem more akin to brown sugar or caramel (but there are chocolate notes) and the lager yeast is rather evident. As a Baltic porter, it's closer to a big dark lager than the lagered imperial stout most in the style are wont to become. Still, the aroma works fine enough.

T: It's not very chocolaty; rather, its initial caramel character is more akin to a bock. There's a slight hoppy touch on the finish resembling mint, or even tobacco. The lager 'bite' is also rather prevalent, and I swear there's a touch of cereal grain floating around. Every once in a while I get hints of chocolate and dark fruits - this is probably the highlight of the brew. Seems rather boozy for 6.8%, though.

M: The feel is surprisingly lush and full. This comes at the price of an overly heavy finish, so it's not 'chuggable' in that respect. Carbonation remains on the back burner, making it seem even more sweet.

O: Not my favorite interpretation of the style, but not terrible. As a BOCK, though, it's actually pretty killer. Since I'm not much of a bock fan, this one ends up being merely okay to my frazzled taste buds.

thanks maddogg for tossing this my way many moons ago. bottling date is 10/22/12 so this one has some time on it.

a - brew pours a soft brown that settles black in the glass. thin off grey head that is gone as quick as it appeared spotty lacing and a head of bubbles can be rebuilt with a glass swirl, but leaves quickly with just a ring of bubbles clinging to the glass where the surface of the brew and glass meet.

s - nose is exactly as advertised...lager with german pilsner and some toasted malt. grainy. really a departure from the classic baltic porter with no char and only a hint of chocolate and roast. this is more toast than roast.

t - the baltic porter comes out in the flavor. not as lagery as the nose suggested, but still heavily influenced by lager. again, char is at a minimum and toasted crystalized caramel malts lead the way as opposed to chocolate roast and char that i'd normally expect.

m - easy drinker, but not very to style.

o - overall a nice beer, but for those looking for a baltic porter, you might be barking up the wrong tree with this one as it is heavily lager influenced...kind of what i would call a black lager.

Pours very dark brown - almost black - with a tan head that becomes a swirling patch. Thin sheet of lacing sticks to the glass.

The smell is of licorice, chocolate, caramel/toffee with a hint of mint.

The taste is pretty complex - especially for a lager - Chocolate, some licorice and toffee mix with a hint of mint and a hint of earthy hops. Malty and sweet-ish, but not too sweet. A touch of roast comes in in the finish. There is a hint of late alcoholic warmth in the aftertaste.

It has a smooth lager flow to the mouthfeel. A big beer but very drinkable.

Complex for a lager, this is easy to drink. It was made for winter, and fits that season well, but good all-year-round. It held up very well for a 10-month-old beer. This was enjoyable. I will look out for it this winter!

Pours a near black with only a hint of clear, dark brown light at the edges of the glass. Has an attractive cappuccino-coloured head, albeit with less retention or lacing than expected, and a pleasantly creamy mouthfeel.

The aroma is astringent, but improves as it warms. Am finally getting some cocoa and coffee tones with fewer barrel tannins than I'd expected, which is my own personal preference. Well balanced taste has a variety of roasted dark malts, with a pleasing bitterness to the finish.

12oz bottle. thanks mike67. Pours a dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma and Taste is of roasted caramel malt, some cacao notes and mild dark fruit and mild bitterness. Palate is medium body with moderate carbonation. The finish is mildly sweet roasted caramel, some cacao and a touch of dark fruit on the end with some bitterness for balance. Overall a good drinking brew.

Smell: Minimal, want more aroma because what's there is very good. Will let it warm.
Smoky roasty malts, some licorice, coffee, dark fruits, and bit of chocolate... Want more power.

Taste: Rich, abundant, dark maltiness with dual notes of bitter roast balanced by tastes of licorice, espresso, and chocolate background sweetness. It's roasted bitter over background of sweet.
Spicy, nice tingle of bitterness. and as it warms, it rounds out with sweetness, roastiness, and dark fruitiness.

Another from the big box o' beer as dropped off by local, in-person trader, tone77.

From the bottle: "Dominion Baltic Porter is a bottom-fermented lager brewed to meet your need for warmth on a cold winter's night. Hints of licorice, toffee & chocolate mingle with German Pilsner, Crystal, Dark Specialty Malts & a touch of Rye giving our Porter a full-bodied taste. Raise your glass to those who were bold enough to brave the Baltic!"; "Winter Brew".

Today might be the first day of Spring according to the calendar, but it is still plenty chilly enough to warrant drinking this beer. My aggro pour raised a finger of dense, deep-tan head with reasonable retention. Color was a deep, dark-brown allowing only a modicum of light to penetrate except around the edges, revealing cola highlights. Nose was rich with notes of dark chocolate, anise, and toffee. Mouthfeel was full and creamy with a very chocolaty/licorice taste on the tongue. Finish was semi-dry and the rye gave it a spicy kick. The lacing that it left behind really covered the glass. While it was not really my choice of style, it was stylistically quite good.

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 10/26/2012. Pours fairly pitch black color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of chocolate, roasted malt, raisin, cocoa, toast, dark bread, light coffee, clove, and floral earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity; a bit muted though. Taste of chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, raisin, cocoa, toast, dark bread, light coffee, clove, and floral earthiness. No bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, toast, raisin, dark bread, light coffee, clove, and floral earthiness on the finish for a bit. Very nice balance and robustness of flavors, with good complexity; great balance of malt and yeast esters; and zero cloying flavors present after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a creamy and lightly slick mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a very good baltic porter style. Very nice balance, robustness, and complexity of flavors; and very smooth to sip on. A very enjoyable offering.

Pours out to a very clear near black, with a little bit of light squeaking through the edges of the glass, forming a tall cappuccino foam light tan head with superior retention and lacing. Moderate firm carbonation, ~3 carbs or so. The subdued aroma has a definite lager yeast character with a little touch of sulfur sitting on top of some roasted malts, some distant dates and a wisp of smoke. No DMS, perceptible alcohol or diacetyl. The taste definitely has a touch of smoked malt. Flavors of figs and carob with a mild herbal bitterness. Aftertaste of cola, smoke and carob. Mouthfeel is a little flimsy for a baltic porter. With an ABV of 6.8%, I would prefer a more substantial mouthfeel, akin to other baltic porters like Okocim or Sinebrychoff. I wonder if they choose a lower mash temp for some reason and that's what I'm getting.

A good beer, but it doesn't compare to the other well known baltic porters, and for the price, I'd stick with Okocim.

Poured from a brwon12 oz. bottle. Has a black color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of licorice, some malts. Taste is roasted malts, chocolate, licorice, good flavor, well balanced. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall this is a pretty good beer.

Pours mostly black with two huge fingers of mocha foam that fill the glass. Aroma is mostly of roast malt bitterness; toffee; plum.

First sip is substantially roasty up front, fading into a bitter middle, and surprisingly dry finish. Not a ton of sweetness here, the roasted malt flavors are the dominant profile, and this is decently hopped.

This is a pretty decent baltic porter. Good amount of ABV that is pretty well hidden. That said, it is kind of one dimensional and really doesn't excite my taste buds. It's good - but nothing that I'll really crave.